JUMPING ACROSS CONTINENTS
Updated: Dec 3, 2021
After 8 months of planning my two inch itinerary notebook is complete and tucked into my carry-on bag. I, being extremely organized, also have the entire trip loaded into a spreadsheet on my computer as well as folders created for each leg of the trip in my email. In my younger days I would be much more adventurous and not quite so organized.
This journey is two-fold. One being my dream to travel the world. The second- to journal about how it is to exclusively use short-term rental properties for lodging in those travels. The hope is to see what common denominators hosts around the world share with me, to brainstorm idea’s and hopefully gain insights into the short-term rental industry outside the United States. How does it compare to the US? What are the challenges? How has it made a difference in their lives? This will be about their stories as much as mine. I will be traveling with Robert, my husband. He will be the man behind most of the photos and hopefully help keep me on track….a big task for sure as I tend to get distracted easily.
I hope you enjoy following my adventure.
Lets do this…
Our first experience flying KLM was AMAZING! Thanks to Eric Alberton at
http://topbusinessclass.com for getting us the great flight in Business Class for a fraction of the cost. If you are ever in need of a travel consultant, he does a great job of it. Contact him at: eric@topbusinessclass.com to see what he can do for you the next time you travel by plane .
Seats 73 A & B
I picked these seats on the
upper level of the Boeing 747-400. What a ride!
First course was impressive to look at and even better to eat. I thought the little red shoes were a cute. They are individual salt & pepper shakers
Main course-all I will say is, I rarely eat shrimp but I would eat it every day if cooked like this. Delicious!
We were asked to select a couple of little houses filled with rum as a thank you gift for flying KLM. Apparently they are collectables. What a great reminder of our first international flight to Europe. Thank you KLM
NICE IS NICE
Flying over the majestic Alps just before landing in Nice. It is hard to grasp the awesomeness of the mountains until seen in person (or in our case from the air).
Making the turn for the approach to the Nice Aeroport. Stunning.the air)
On this, our fist trip to Europe, we are attempting to travel as much like the locals travel as we can. Here we are taking Bus 99 into Nice.
Our Airbnb host, Ludovic told us which bus to take from the airport and what stop to get off at. He met us at the bus stop and walked us not more than a block to our apartment.
Everything we are doing is a learning process for us. As strangers in new places this part of our adventure will be the most challenging. We did learn that when purchasing train/bus passes there's an option to select different languages to read the instructions. Yeah!!! Still, there is a lot to learn about the transportation systems here. Did I mention that April is the month that the train union will be striking? This may be more than we bargained for but we will roll with it just as the locals do.
Our apartment was found through airbnb.com. Since we are traveling on a simple budget, the more we save on our lodging, the longer we can travel. I started booking our lodging nine months before we left. I am really glad that I did as the good, less expensive places reserve quickly.
The building we are in has an elevator, or lift as they are called here, but we chose to walk up to our apartment. It was on the first floor, which in Europe is actually not the street level. Rather it is one floor above street level. This is a beautiful marble floor stair case leading up to all the apartments.
This is Ludovic our Airbnb host. He has been great at communicating back and forth both before our arrive (I had lots of questions for him) and will be available during our stay in Nice should we need anything. He is actually a flight attendant with Air France and loves offering travelers a clean and safe place to stay while they are traveling. Here is the link to the listing we are staying in: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16697700. You can also see his other properties at: http://ludovicseidita.com.
View from our main sleeping/living area. We are in a 3 piece (or 3 room) apartment. It has very high ceilings and tall windows. The windows face inward toward a central open area and is a unique way to give the feeling of openness in a very densely built city. I like how the sense of space appears larger when the ceilings are high & the windows let in a ton of light
Our first meal at our Airbnb in Nice. C'est la manière française (its the French way)